Wormhole
by CaramelDatsun
Summary: While the Autobots try to repair the broken space bridge, an accident sends Sari to a dimension where nothing is as it should be...Mix of Shattered Glass and Animated! Lots of pairing, some slash, some not. No flames, please. Rating may go up
1. Prolouge

Blurr was troubled.

The blue mech stood before a window, glaring down at the pitiful dwellings that housed what few humans that still dared to inhabit the city. "Fools…" he sneered. "They still think they can forge a life here, when their homes are destroyed every day by the unending battles." He shook his head.

Blurr, along with his Second in Command, Mirage, were considered to be princes among thieves back on Cybertron, but they had learned of Earth being a new hub of activity for their race, so they had set up a guild on this desolate planet in an attempt to intercept deliveries and priceless Cybertronian artifacts sent through here in an attempt to safeguard them from burglars by taking them off the beaten track.

HA.

Blurr's mind was as quick and as sharp as they came, and that's why he was leader of The Cybetronian Thieves' Guild…or at least the Earth Division. His partner, Mirage, was back on Cybertron, keeping the Guild's other division in line during his absence. The two had been inseparable since they first met. They had clawed their way up the street ranks from petty crooks to nothing short of criminal masterminds. However, their greatest asset was their connection to the Autobots, an elite criminal syndicate who'd taken over Cybertron. Blurr and Mirage worked as recruiters for their cause, and as long as the pair kept sending fresh recruits, the Autobots would grant the thieves immunity from the law.

It was a sweet deal indeed.

"Ah, there you are, Blurr." A voice shattered the mech's thoughts, and, judging by the voice, he guessed it was that annoyance, Jazz. "I was wondering where you'd run off to."

"What do you want, Jazz?" Blurr asked without turning around.

"Oh, it's not what I want," Jazz replied. "It's Ultra Magnus. He says there's a possibility that the wormhole's going to open up again, and he wants some of your guys there in case it decided to dump something in this universe again, like last time."

"Ah, yes, I figured as much…" Blurr said, turning around. "But you both know my services don't come cheap."

"Yes, we know you too well, Blurr…Jazz said, grinning. "That's why we took the liberty of wiring the agreed twenty million credits to your account already."

"Well, that's mighty generous of you lot. Now, where are my members to assemble?"

"We've already sent the co-ordinates to you via the network, in case there are any Decepticon spies about. One can never be too careful these days."

"Yes, true…" Blurr strode up to the mech. "Now then, why are YOU here?"

"Didn't I just tell you?" Jazz replied coldly.

"Let me guess, you're here to ogle Prowl again, am I right?" Blurr growled accusingly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Jazz said in a sarcastic tone.

"Jazz, Jazz, Jazz…" Blurr chided. "I'm not normally one who dabbles in the slave trade, but I can tell you, if I did, you'd never be able to afford him. The mech's one of my most efficient assassins, do you honestly think I'll just hand him over like some cheap turbo-hound? Now, unless you've got some other business here, I suggest you leave."

"Well, actually, now that you mention the slave trade, we did catch a Decepticon spy amongst your ranks and we're allowing you to deal with him."

"It's my Primus-given right as Leader of this Guild to deal with him anyway." Blurr snorted. "Where is the little traitor?"

"Send him in!" Jazz yelled over his shoulder. Turning back to Blurr, he said, "You're gonna hate me for this."

"More than I already do?"

"Touché."

Two mechs had a much smaller mech restrained between them. The spy's wrists had been cuffed together, and he struggled as he was dragged before the Autobots.

Blurr's optics narrowed. "Bumblebee. I should have known."

* * *

A/N Aaaand, that's all you're getting until I decide to write some more of this fic. I hope you lot like it!


	2. Chapter 1: WTF

A/N Ok, yes, this is mostly back story, but most of it's necessary, so be patient! Also, the Starscream clones…Man oh MAN they were fun to write about! Oh, yeah, Random Blizty's line when he first appears is credited to nekoZetsu-X3 on Deviantart.

_Blah _: comlink

--

Detroit was nothing more than a ruin filled with memories, some good and some bad.

--

It had all started when a young crew of space bridge repair bots got their hands on the Allspark, which had come through the bridge unexpectedly. After reporting their finding to their superior, Ultra Magnus, they were told to head back to the nearest Autobot base.

Fortunately, that's when Megatron and his Decepticons, a group of vigilantes who were pit-bent on taking down the dictatorship of the tyrannical Autobots, arrived on the scene.

After breaching the Autobots' ship, Megatron led an attack on the repair crew. Although it was obvious he would have won, Autobot Ratchet managed to pull both ships into the nearby space bridge, which had no coordinates set into it. After a short trip, the two groups landed in an unknown sector of the cosmos, which housed a little blue planet called Earth. The two crews had been forced into stasis lock as their ships separated and crashed in different locations on Earth.

That's when the trouble started.

The Autobot crew was first to come out of stasis lock, and, despite their low rank and the fact that they weren't exactly top fighting material, they managed to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting populace. Led by Optimus Prime, a disgraced officer whose attitude was the main cause of his demotion, the crew managed to nearly rule the city, forcing the local scientists to create attack drones for them. However, these drones came into contact with some Allspark energy and become sentient beings.

They were known as the Dinobots.

With these massive creatures on their side, the Autobots had a distinct hold on the city, and it seemed nothing would loosen their grip on it.

--

Meanwhile, it was around this time that the Decepticon scout, BlackArachnia, came back online. The femme had been a former Autobot and Optimus Prime's former friend, but Autobot scientists had preformed horrid experiments on her, causing her to transform into a freak or, as she preferred to call herself, a 'techno-organic'. She was found nearly offline by Megatron, who offered her a place in his group of vigilantes as a scout. Needless to say, she took that offer without hesitation.

After awakening the rest of the crew, they were horrified to find the Autobots had already taken over the city and were preparing an attack on the rest of the planet. Thankfully, the rest of the Decepticons scattered around the universe made sure the Autobot forces were stretched too thin, limiting the number of bots Optimus Prime could call in for reinforcements.

As the Decepticons clashed with the Autobots in battle, Starscream, Megatron's loyal second in Command and, at the time, Decepticon Medic, knew they needed back-up, and quickly. So, after chipping off a large fragment of the Allspark during an attack on the Autobot ship, he set about making other Seekers much like himself. He managed to create five clones before he used the last stolen fragment. Unbeknownst to him, they had taken on an aspect of his general being: Bravery, Humility, Honesty, Recklessness, and Compassion. Although three hadn't though of names for themselves, the one who had taken on Starscream's bravery called himself Skywarp, while the Seeker who knew only humility called himself Thundercracker.

While the Decepticons celebrated the new additions to their group, their joy was soon short-lived, as a ship used only by the Autobot Elite Guard landed on Earth. Not only did it contain Ultra Magnus and his two bodyguards, Jazz and Sentinel Prime, but it also contained members of the Cybertronian Thieves' Guild, including their leader, Blurr.

The Decepticons on Earth soon found themselves out numbered and out-gunned.

And this is where the story truly begins.

--

Atop a large smoke stack, a small orange cat sat, shivering as the gaping hole behind it belched smoke into the air. Below on a ladder, a ragged young teen was trying to coax it down from the ledge. "Come on, Kitty! It's ok, come down!" He said in an exasperated voice, but the cat refused to budge and meowed in a terrified voice.

The sound of jet engines alerted the boy. Turning his head, he saw a robot with a blue face and a tan helm with goggled perched atop his brow.

"You seem to be having trouble vith you pet, Fleshling. Allow me." Grabbing the boy by the back of the shirt, he lifted him up to the terrified kitty, who jumped onto his owner's shoulder, purring.

"Thanks, Mr. Blitzwing!" He said, snuggling his kitty.

"Eet is no trouble…" the mech said. Suddenly, he changed to his black, random face. "OHUHU! I KNOW HOW TO GET YOU HOME FAZITER!" He pitched the boy in a random direction. "I'M A GOOD BOY!" He chortled.

Suddenly, the night sky was lit up by a pink glow. Reverting back to his icy persona, Blitzwing tapped into his comlink. _'Blitzwing to Megatron. Starscream vas right, ze vormhole is opening again.'_

'_Told you so.'_ Starscream's voice came on the link before it was replaced by Megatron's.

'_I'm sending Skywarp and Thundercracker to your coordinates now in case the Autobots are already there.'_ The Decepticon leader said. _'Be careful, Blitzwing. Who knows what'll turn up this time.'_

--

"So, when do you reckon the wormhole's going to open up again?" Two large mechs stood in what was a plaza next to was remained of a train station. The large, green one was Bulkhead, one of the original crew members who'd stumbled upon the Allspark. The other was a large triceratops, who deftly transformed and shrugged. Bulkhead sighed. "I swear, Snarl, it's like you never became sentient..." Snarl only grunted in response.

Their conversation was cut short by a large pink portal that sliced through the sky. "Ah, there it is now." Bulkhead said, scanning the portal in case there was anything coming through the large gash in the sky. Nearby, members of the Thieves' Guild stood nearby, watching and waiting for something to happen.

A high-pitched squeal cut through the air, and something small fell from the portal and right into Bulkhead's hands.

It took a little while for the mech to register what just happened, and looked at the small human that sat in his hand. "A human? Are you kidding me?" He snorted.

Said human appeared to be a young female with red hair styled in a manner that the humans called 'ponytails'. Around her neck was a strange-looking key, which glowed slightly. The human girl was rubbing the back of her head and groaning. Looking around, she looked at the mech and said in a confused voice, "Bulkhead?"

"How do you know my name?" The green mech demanded.

"Bulkhead, it's me, Sari, remember?" She said. "How'd you get here? Did you fall in the space bridge too?"

"What are you talking about, human?" He asked.

Sari was about to explain, when a mech yelled, "INCOMING!" Several missiles came barreling down from the sky, nearly hitting several mechs. The Autobots dashed for cover as three fighter jets zoomed by. One of the, purple and black in color, actually dived down dangerously close to the ground, firing at the fleeing Autobots.

"Prowl!" Bulkhead yelled over the din. "Take the human and get back to the base!" The mech tossed Sari into the air, where the Cyberninja caught her.

"Prowl!" She said in a relived voice.

The ninja looked at her curiously as he wove through the maze of explosions and debris. "Do I know you?" He asked.

Any answer she tried to give was cut short as a length of what appeared to be webbing wrapped around his faceplates. Dropping Sari, the ninja struggled to get the mess off of him, while the poor girl landed in the hands of a certain Decepticon femme.

"It's alright, kid, you're safe now!" A female voice said. Sari looked up into the four red optics of BlackArachnia and screamed.

"Let me go! Prowl!" Sari yelled in a panic, catching the spider femme off guard.

"What the Pit are you doing?!" The femme snarled as they made their way amid the explosions. "What are you, an Autobot supporter or something?"

"Well, yeah! They're my friends!" Sari yelled back.

"WHAT?" BlackArachnia screeched, nearly getting hit by some flying debris. She was so startled she didn't notice the shuriken that was headed straight for the back of her neck.

--

A/N And I leave you with a cliffhanger. Enjoy! XD


	3. Chapter 2: Explinations and Such

A/N wow, I'm working fast. It must be my lack of time on my side. Gweh…

--

"Ultra Magus, Sir!" Blurr stood before the Autobot leader, saluting.

"Status report, Blurr." The older mech barked impatiently. He sat in a chair that looked very much like a throne, his hammer held in one hand like a scepter.

"The wormhole did open and it dumped out what appeared to be a young human child whose body appears to be composed of Cybertronian metal hidden beneath a sort of organic material closely related to what humans call 'skin'." Blurr reported.

"Hmmm…" Ultra Magnus looked down at the blue mech. "Anything else?"

"Yes, actually. The human has an object in her possession that emits the same type of energy found in the Allspark, or so my sources tell me. It also appears to have the exact same power level as the Allspark, sir."

"Really now?" Ultra Magnus asked in an interested voice. "We must acquire this child at once."

"We're already working on that, sir," Blurr said. "Prowl should be arriving with the child soon enough."

--

Prowl was so sure that his weapon was going to hit that pesky techno-organic, he would have bet money on it. Unfortunately, he would have lost that bet, because just as the shuriken was about to hit, a loud 'WOOSH' filled the air, and the weapon was knocked away by a gust of wind. Looking up, the ninja saw it was the one the Decepticons called 'Skywarp', but the Autobots, despite them being his enemy, had dubbed him 'Lionspark' due to his tendency to risk his life to save any of his teammates.

He was a Decepticon, yes, but the Autobots thought highly of his bravery.

"Skywarp! Thank Primus you're here." The femme sighed in relief. "We got what we came for, so can we get out of here?"

"One klik, hun." The mech replied, whipping out his null-rays and firing at Prowl. The ninja back flipped away from the lasers easily, but by the time he'd taken out another shuriken, Skywarp, BlackArachnia and the human were gone.

Scowling, Prowl put the shuriken away. Carelessness, that's what he'd done. He'd been careless.

Blurr was going to chew him up for this.

--

Skywarp held BlackArachnia in his arms, while the femme held Sari in a protective manner as the Seeker was zooming off towards the Decepticon base.

It was common knowledge that Skywarp and BlackArachnia were good friends, but recent innuendo and gossip seemed to point to something more. In any case, they would often be seen fighting side by side on the battlefield and in internal affairs.

The Seeker grinned at the femme. "So, whatcha got there?" He asked.

"A human that supports the Autobots, apparently." BlackArachnia replied, frowning.

Skywarp frowned. "Unheard of."

"Hey, I have a name, you know!" Sari growled. "It's Sari, and what's going on here?! What happened to Detroit, and I though the jet was a big coward!"

Skywarp kept silent, but he scowled more. He HATED being called a coward more than anything else.

"First off, missy, you obviously come from some world that's NOT here, so I'll make this really simple; You AREN'T in your own world, the Autobots are an evil crime syndicate, and we Decepticons are the only things stopping them from taking over the entire universe and beyond, got it?" BlackArachnia said testily.

"W-what?" Sari replied weakly. It was a bit much to take in, and she sat down in BlackArachnia's hand.

"Relax, kid, if you have any questions, Megatron will be more than happy to answer them." BlackArachnia said in a comforting manner. "Oh, and FYI, Skywarp here hates being called a coward."

Skywarp snorted before turning on his comlink. _'Skywarp to Megatron. We've got what fell out of the portal…'_ He smirked. _'It's…interesting, to say the least.'_

_Alright, Skywarp, I'll call back Blitzwing and Thundercracker and we'll meet back at the rally point.'_

'_Can do.'_

--

"What do you mean, 'YOU LOST IT'?!" Blurr snarled at Prowl, who took the verbal abuse without so much as flinching. "I expect better than that from you, Prowl!"

"It will not happen again, sir." Prowl said with an even face, looking straight ahead.

"I should hope not! Now I have to explain this to Ultra Magnus!" Blurr snarled, when an alarm went off.

"Breach in the prison sector!" A voice said over the intercom. "All able bodied Autobots, please report to Prison Block Twelve."

--

"About time, you guys!" The yellow mech staggered to his feet, his cuffs recently shattered.

"Oh, shut up, Bumblebee, be glad we came at all!" The grey mech joked, helping the spy to steady himself. A single red optic looked over at his partner, a large purple and green mech who was busily busting a hole through the steel walls. "Lugnut, are you almost done there?" He asked, the accent in his voice getting the better of him.

"Almost, Shockwave, keep your bearings on!" The large mech growled as a response, as he prepared to give the wall a final, crushing blow. The two mechs braced themselves as the punch created a blast big enough to destroy twenty mechs. As the dust settled, a large hole was visible through the dust.

"I think it's time to go. I can hear those blasted Autobots coming!" Shockwave said, handing Bee off to Lugnut. "You two go. My place is here."

"See you later, Shockwave!" Bee said, as the pair transformed. The bomber jet smashed through the gates, leaving the path clear for the mech to get through.

--

"This is an outrage…" Ultra Magnus snarled at the slightly shaking form of Blurr. "First you lose the child, and now you allow a Decepticon prisoner to escape? Blurr, I'm starting to doubt your usefulness."

"I-it won't happen again, my lord." Blurr said, bowing.

"I should hope it doesn't." Ultra Magnus snorted. "But in case it does, I want you to take Optimus and Sentinel Prime with you to reclaim the child and her artifact, am I clear, Blurr?"

"Y-yes, sir! Very clear!" Blurr replied, shuddering inwardly. He HATED Optimus and Sentinel, who though they had the right to tell him what to do just because they were of a higher rank. Especially Optimus, that pompous fat helmed idiot. Sentinel was tolerable, but Optimus…

--

As Skywarp landed on a high cliff, He let the girls down and they followed him down into what appeared to be a mineshaft. "Yeah, the Decepticon base is pretty much inside the mountain, Sari. Don't worry about cave-ins, we figured out how to keep the place stable." Skywarp said, as lanterns lit their way through the dark tunnel.

Soon, they came to a large steel door, which opened for them automatically. The room beyond was lit by a cool blue light, and was furnished rather modestly, despite the fact that it belonged to giant robots. On a couch sat a very tired looking Seeker, who bore a strong resemblance to Skywarp, except his color scheme was burgundy and tan. Looking up with tired optics, he smiled weakly and said, "Ah, Skywarp! There you are. I was getting worried. Sunstorm was already sent to the Med Bay due to a busted up wing, so…"

"Enough of the chatter, Ramjet, we're alright." Skywarp said soothingly. "Now, where's Megatron? Our guest has a few questions she wants answered." The mech pointed in BlackArachnia's direction.

Ramjet blinked. "But BlackArachnia already lives here." He said, looking confused.

"Not me, you idiot!" She hissed. "Her!" She held Sari up for the Seeker to see.

"Oh, her! Gotcha." Ramjet replied, peering at the human. "Well, Megatron's in a meeting with Soundwave, Lockdown, Starscream and Swindle, so he won't be out for a while."

"Typical Megatron." Skywarp said, shaking his head. "Works himself too hard. Now, what's this I hear about Sunstorm being sent to the Med Bay?"

"He went and got himself hit by an enemy missile. Idiot. Quicksnipe's working on him now."

"That's our sis for you," Skywarp chuckled. "Likes to keep herself busy. BlackArachnia, why don't you find a place for our guest to rest?"

"Alright, alright, I know when I'm not wanted," she said in a mock pouting voice. "Come on, Sari. Let's see if we can find you a place to sleep. I'll bet you're tired after all that's happened today." The girl only nodded. She WAS tired…

--

A/N Man, that was fun to write! More to come, so be patient! Also, I may have messed up Ramjet's personality, so sorry about that! XD


	4. Chapter 3: Forboding

A/N I just flamin' realized something! WHERE'S THE EVIL ROBOT FACIAL HAIR? I COMPLETLT FORGOT! My bad!

Also, yes, I did name the female Starscream clone Quicksnipe, but it is by no means her official name. That's for Hasbro to decide.

--

The Decepticon base was riddled with long, winding corridors, with several doors leading off to various rooms. "Looks easy to get lost in here…" Sari commented quietly.

"Yeah, but it's also harder for enemies to know where the really important parts of our base are." BlackArachnia replied, turning a corner to a shorter corridor. "Here we are." Brushing her fingertips across the metal surface of the door, it melted away, revealing a dimly lit room with many cobwebs hanging in the corners. "Sorry it's such a mess, but I normally don't have guests." The femme navigated through the dusky room and stopped in front of a large silk hammock. Placing Sari down onto it, she said, "You just relax for a little while and get some rest. I'll be back in a little while to check on you."

--

Meanwhile, Skywarp and Ramjet had entered the Decepticon Med Bay to check up on Sunstorm.

The orange and white mech sat on the edge of a berth, grumbling and casting frustrated glances at his wing…or what was left of it. Looking up, he smiled slightly. "Ah, so have you come to gloat about my latest injury, Ramjet? Are you here to say 'I told you so'?"

"Well, that wasn't my intention, but if you want me to…" Ramjet replied, returning his brother's grin.

"Where's Quicksnipe?" Skywarp asked, looking around.

"Oh, she's checking back with Swindle to see if he has any parts for my wing," The orange Seeker frowned. "Although I heard he's sent his prices skyrocketing."

"Ouch."

"Indeed…" Sunstorm sighed. "Well, all we can hope is that she doesn't get ticked off too badly…"

There was a loud crashing sound, followed by a loud, "TWO THOUSAND CREDITS PER REPAIR SET? YOU RIP-OFF ARTIST!"

"Aaaand she's ticked off." Ramjet said wearily.

"Well, at least Swindle lives up to his name."

A purple and teal Seeker femme came storming into the Med Bay, cursing loudly. "That JERK!" She hissed. "How DARE he treat us like this?! WE'RE the ones who kept him out of the Autobot's Stockade, and THIS is how he thanks us?!"

"Cool your boosters, Quicksnipe." Skywarp said airily, causing the femme to turn on him.

"HOW CAN I?!" She hissed. "Sunstorm's wing STILL isn't fixed, and there's the chance he'll be grounded PERAMENTLY."

"W-WHAT?!" The orange Seeker squawked. He loved being able to fly more than the rest of his siblings combined, and now it was going to be taken away from him?!

"Yeah, I ran a scan on your stub of a wing, and if we can't get it fixed soon, it may just be too late." The femme replied softly. "Sorry, Sunstorm, but I think perhaps there's the chance I won't be able to get those parts…"

There was a somber silence in the Med Bay. This was not only bad for them, but it was bad for the Decepticons in general. Reckless as he was, Sunstorm was one of the best fighters the Decepticons had on their side. This was a major blow to the Seekers…

Skywarp was the first to break the silence. "Wait, since you were just talking to Swindle, does that mean Megatron's out of his meeting?" He asked his sister.

"Yeah, he got out fifteen Earth minutes ago, why?" She replied.

Skywarp was about to explain, when a very angry and very beat-up looking Blitzwing trudged into the Med Bay, followed closely by Thundercracker. Glaring at Skywarp with his red, angry face, he growled, "Skyvarp, you eediot! Vhy didn't you tell me you vere leaving?!"

"I though Megatron was going to contact you." Skywarp said apologetically.

Switching to his icy face, Blitzwing continued, "Vell, we were hit vith a transmission jammer before ve got ze message, so ve had to fight our vey out of zere…" He held up his left arm, which appeared to be dangling by a few wires. "Needless to say, Thundercracker and I suffered quite a few injuries between us…Quicksnipe, I suggest you vork on Thundercracker first. I vill be fine."

The Seeker femme had winced at the sight of Blitzwing's loose arm. "Blitzy, in case you haven't noticed, your arm's about to fall off." She said with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, Blitzwing, you go first," The blue Seeker said, nodding. "I owe you one for watching my back out there."

"Very vell…" The mech said, sitting down on a berth and allowing the Medic to look his arm over. It was rumored that Quicksnipe did indeed like Blitzwing, although said rumors were unconfirmed.

Skywarp exited the Med Bay, smirking, and went off to look for Megatron.

--

Blurr was not happy.

Not only had Optimus and Sentinel Prime showed up at his doorstep, Jazz had decided to go with them. How Blurr hated Ultra Magnus right now…

"Ah, Jazz!" Blurr said in a mock friendly tone. "To what do I owe the displeasure?"

Jazz grinned nastily at the mech. "Well, since you fouled up so badly last time, Ultra Magnus decided to let me tag along to keep an optic on you and your guild. Isn't that great?"

"Super." Blurr growled in response, watching quietly as Optimus had begun to bully some of his younger guild members while Sentinel stood respectfully off to the side, awaiting orders. The red and blue mech sneered at his subordinates in a manner that pissed Blurr off to no end, and he longed to drive an energy knife into the back of that pompous idiot's neck, like any proper rouge would have done already.

Turning to look at Sentinel, Blurr noticed something…different about the mech. "What's that long line under his nasal receptors?" Blurr asked Jazz quietly when they were out of the mech's hearing range.

"We're not entirely sure," Jazz replied, "But we think he got it from looking at old human history files. I think he called it a 'moustache' and that little triangle on his chin is called a 'goatee' or something. It's supposed to make him look dignified."

"Oh." Was all Blurr could say, smirking.

"Yeah, I think makes him look stupid too, but try not to say anything. He's still a little sensitive about it."

--

Megatron looked up at the blank screen, optics worried and tired. The mech had just gotten off the line with two of his allies, Lockdown, leader of an extremely large band of space pirates, and Swindle, his main supplier of weaponry, and the poor Decepticon was dead tired.

Lockdown had said something about how it was getting harder and harder to find willing recruits for the Decepticon cause, but considering his loyalty to Megatron, he said he would keep at it. Swindle, however, had said that, due to a recent black market hotspot that had exposed to the Autobots, prices of parts and weaponry were going through the roof.

All gloom and doom, basically.

The mech sighed wearily. When he'd chosen to stand up to the Autobots, he knew what he was getting into, but he never realized how tiring it was to be leader of a rebellion. But he was suppose to be a symbol of hope to those oppressed by the Autobots…he couldn't just give up on them now.

"Megatron?" The Decepticon leader turned to see Skywarp enter the room.

"Ah, Skywarp. I was wondering when you'd seek me out." Megatron said with a weary smile. "What exactly did you intercept from the portal? You never mentioned it over the com link."

"Well, BlackArachnia and I went to check out the portal, just like you asked, and, well, we found what appeared to be a young human girl."

"A human?"

"Yeah, and that's not all. At first glance, she appeared to be supporting the Autobots, but we managed to set her straight." Skywarp explained. "She said he name was Sari and she had in her possession a key that was giving off huge amounts of power akin to that of the Allspark. What's really bothering me, however, is when I took a quick scan of her. She appears to be techno-organic like BlackArachnia, and her energy signature is much like yours."

"Hmmmm…Where's the human currently?"

"She's resting right now. BlackArachnia's decided to keep an optic on her until we can establish a guardian."

"Bring her to me as soon as she's awake. I'd like to take a look at her. If she's really who she says she is, we might just be able to defeat the Autobots once and for all."

--

A/N Ok, for those of you asking, 'Where's Starscream?' or 'Why's this story revolve around the Seekers?', I say, be patient, it will be explained later!


	5. Chapter 4: A little Q and A

A/N Gweh. Gotta keep working…

--

It had been nearly an Earth day since Bumblebee had escaped from the stockade and he was dead tired.

Although the young spy used to an Autobot, he'd been captured by the Decepticons and had been shown the errors of his ways. Megatron regarded the mech like the son he'd probably never have, and Bee could sense that the rest of the Decepticons, although they really didn't show it, felt he was like a little brother to all of them.

Outside the mountain base, the yellow car drove into a small cave. The poor thing was dented and had its paint scratched off of various places, but he was still alive, and that's all that mattered.

Lugnut had told Bumblebee to head back to the base without him, as he had some business with a few new arrivals that had landed somewhere in the northern part of the continent. Bee had done so without question. The young mech was exhausted from being in the Autobot Stockade for so long, and he really needed recharge. Transforming, he strode towards a large elevator used for Decepticons who were unable to fly or flying bots that were too injured to transform.

He was almost home.

Little did he know he was being followed by a certain disgraced ninja.

--

Prowl had been looking to redeem himself in the optics of his superiors, and this was the only way he could think of at the moment.

The ninja had followed Bumblebee the entire way, and as he stood on a large boulder, he knew this was where the Decepticon base lay. No Autobot had ever seen the inside of this fabled labyrinth and returned alive, but the black ninja was determined to be the first, and return with the child to boot. Transforming, he sped up to the cave the yellow Decepticon had entered.

After a few minutes, the mech came to the elevator doors that led up to the Decepticon base. Oddly enough, this entrance appeared to lack any sort of security system. Scanning the door, he couldn't detect any sort of threat…Still suspicious, he touched the doors with one finger. He hissed and withdrew his hand as a powerful electric current ran through him.

"Looks like I'll have to find another way into the base…" He growled, transformed, and sped out of the cave…all while a cloaked surveillance camera watched his movements.

--

Sari yawned and opened her eyes. Looking around the dark room, she forgot where she was for a moment. Then she remembered what exactly had happened…"BlackArachnia?" she called.

"Up here." A voice said. Sari looked towards a corner of the room to see four red optics looking back at her. Transforming, the femme scooped her up and said, "Let's go. Megatron summoned us a while back, but you were still asleep."

--

"Oi, anybot seen Prowl?" Blurr asked aloud. Many of the guild members within hearing range shook their heads or shrugged. The Autobot group had camped out in the middle of the ruined city for a few hours of rest, and they were about ready to start dividing the group up into search parties that were SUPPOSED to be looking for the Decepticon base…but it seemed like they would need to keep an optic out for Prowl too.

Jazz looked up. Prowl was missing? The mech grinned inwardly. Perhaps this was the chance he'd been waiting for to make the assassin his…But he needed to bide his time, and strike when the time was right…

Blurr glared in Jazz's direction. He knew the Cyberninja had heard him say Prowl wasn't here, and he knew he had to keep his optic on the mech to ensure he didn't loose one of his best thieves…

"Huh!" A sadistic snort made Blurr turn angrily. Optimus Prime sneered in his direction, "Can't even keep track of your own men! Some leader you are."

"Hey, at least Ultra Magnus hasn't given up on me yet, you sorry excuse for a Decepticon aftplate!" Blurr snarled. He'd had it with Optimus' attitude, and he wasn't about to loose face in front of his men by letting this fool what dared to call himself an Elite Guard member disgrace him in such a manner.

Drawing his ax, Optimus took up a fighting position, but Blurr was way ahead of him on that. The two mechs looked about ready to kill each other, but it was Sentinel who stopped them.

"Guys, we're supposed to be HELPING each other, remember?" Sentinel said, separating the two with ease.

The two mechs glared at each other, but stopped in their tracks. Pulling away from Sentinel, Blurr strode off, ready to announce the search groups, and making damn sure Jazz was in HIS group…just in case.

--

Prowl had been forced to scale the cliffs of the mountain, and it proved to be difficult, even for one with his skills. Leaping from ledge to ledge, the mech soon found himself tired around halfway up the mountain side. Stopping to rest on a somewhat sheltered indent, he soon realized he wasn't alone, as a laser that had come from above narrowly missed his head. The mech looked up to see a fighter jet zooming down to his location. Drawing his shuriken, he leapt of the ledge as it was shattered by two more blasts. Landing gracefully on a jutting rock, the assassin glared at the Seeker that now hovered before him.

"Starscream…" He hissed.

"Aw, is that anyway to treat an old friend?" The mech asked, null rays aimed at the ninja.

"Only if that friend is a Decepticon." Prowl sprung up into the air, shuriken aimed directly at the base of Starscream's wings, but the Seeker, with only three blasts, knocked both shuriken out of the way and hit Prowl square in the chest armor. The ninja felt himself falling and was caught by one arm by the grinning Seeker.

"My goodness, Prowl, you're certainly loosing your touch." The Decepticon Second in Command said, slapping a pair of stasis cuffs on the assassin. "But I'll bet Megatron'll be happy to see you."

--

"Ah, there you are, BlackArachnia." Megatron turned to the door, where the spider femme stood with Sari in hand. "This must be the human who've I've heard so much about. Please, sit."

The femme set Sari down on the long meeting table and sat down in a chair behind her. "Normally, we'd wait for Starscream to return from some security breach that he had to deal with, but I'm sure Sari wishes her questions answered." He smiled down at Sari who nodded vigorously. "Very well, but I'd like to know a little about where you come from first."

Sari gave a small sigh. "Alright, alright. Well, here's basically how it is: The Autobots are the good guys, and the Decepticons are the bad guys. My dad found your disembodied head when he was, like twenty or something and he used it to reverse engineer all the technology in Detroit. You tricked him into thinking you were a good Autobot, and when your flunkies finally found you, you rose back to power and the Autobots managed to stop you, but they ended up destroying the Allspark in the process. Later, you tried to use a space bridge you reverse engineered with my dad's help, but Starscream and his clones tried to defeat you, and almost succeeded, but my dad managed to decapitate Starscream, leaving you in control. But later, you were sucked into the space bridge, along with Starscream's head, and the space bridge exploded. We still don't know where you are in my universe."

Megatron looked down at the child with pensive optics. Sighing, he sat down hard, a hand over his forehead. "My, that's quite a bit to take in…" He said after a long silence. "At least I know that somewhere, there is peace…even if I had to be sent away to obtain it."

"Sorry you had to hear it that way, Megatron." Sari said apologetically.

"That is alright, child…" Megatron replied. "Now, I can assume you'd like those questions answered now. Well, fire away."

"Alright, where am I? Why are the Autobots evil? How in the world did I get here?" Sari asked.

"Well, I'll answer them to the best of my ability, so here goes: Judging by you story, you are in a dimension that appears to mirror your own. You normally wouldn't be able to come here, but Starscream has thought of the answer to that: There is an empty space in this universe that you have just filled with your presence. Don't ask me how he came to that conclusion, that seeker works in mysterious ways. As to why the Autobots are evil, they came to be that way after the end of the Golden Age. To put it simply, they somehow got their hands on the Allspark, and the power went to their processors. They began a dictatorship, crushing all who stood in their way. I started the Decepticons to try and stop their tyrannical rule, but back then, I had very few Cybertronians who wanted to put their lives on the line for freedom. So, as an act to try and rally supporters, a small group of us managed to storm the fortress where the Allspark lay and tossed it into a space bridge. That managed to put some hope into the sparks of others, and out forces tripled in less than half a vorn."

"As to why you are here, I can only guess that you came here via space bridge." Megatron paused. "Did you happen to fall into one?"

Sari thought hard, and it cam to her…"Before, when the Autobots were trying to repair the space bridge in my universe…" She said, "My key started glowing like crazy, and the space bridge activated suddenly, and I was sucked in…"

"That must be how you came to be here." Megatron replied, and looked down at Sari's key. "My, what a strange device this is. How did a child such as yourself obtain it?"

"Well, my keycard came into contact with the Allspark, and it turned into this, basically." Sari explained.

"I see…It's infused with the power of the Allspark, then." Megatron said in a thoughtful voice. He looked up as the door slid open, and Starscream stepped inside.

"Sorry, I'm late, Megatron," He said apologetically. "I was dealing with an Autobot intruder. It was Prowl again, and he didn't make it easy for me to drag him to the brig. Had to ask Quicksnipe to stun him for me."

"Prowl's here?" Sari asked, and Starscream looked down at her, slightly surprised.

"Yes, he's down in the brig. Apparently, he was following Bumblebee in, and I caught him scaling the cliffs." He answered.

"Bumblebee's here too?" Sari asked, although she wasn't surprised by anything in this universe anymore.

"Yes, Bumblebee's one of the Decepticons' best spies, Sari." Megatron answered from across the room. "Did you know his counterpart?"

"Yeah, he was one of my best friends…" Sari answered quietly. So Bumblebee was a Decepticon, and Prowl, Bulkhead and Optimus were still Autobots. As she wondered what had happened to Ratchet, a yellow mech poked his head into the room.

"Hey, guys. What's going on?" He asked.

"Bumblebee!" Sari exclaimed, causing the mech to recoil slightly.

"W-who said that?" He asked and looked at the table. "Wait a second…" He got closer to the organic. "Sari?"

"You remember me?" Sari asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I knew an organic that looked like you, but she went missing a while back…" Bumblebee replied in a somber voice. "But you can't be her. She was a bit older than you, maybe fifteen Earth years old and didn't style her hair like you do…" His red optics felt to the key she wore around her neck. "And the last time I saw her, she didn't have a key like yours."

Sari was speechless. If Bumblebee had known a girl like her, only older…did that mean she was in the future? No, that couldn't be true…

"Bumblebbe, you klutz!" Starscream growled at the spy. "You let Prowl follow you to our base!"

"What? I did?" He asked, looking up. "Sorry about that…I guess I didn't bother to check whether or not I was being followed, I was so tired…"

"Um, Starscream?" Sari piped up.

"Yes?" The Seeker asked.

"Can I go see him? I mean, if that's alright."

"Of course," Starscream said, glaring at the yellow mech that stood before him. "I'm sure Bumblebee would love to escort you down to the brig to see him, right, Bumblebee?"

"Um, sure…" Bee replied, grinning nervously.

--

High above the Decepticon base, a black dot circled almost lazily above the sun warmed stones. Upon closer inspection, the black dot appeared to be a pterosaur, gliding quietly overhead. The flier, with one flap of its wings, began gliding back to its teammates.

After a short flight, the creature landed gracefully in front of a huge t-rex. Transforming, the flier stated, "Me Swoop sense Prowl is nearby, but me Swoop can't pinpoint energy signal. Too rocky for Swoop to use radar. Me Swoop sorry, Grimlock."

Transforming, the larger mech dismissed the mech with a wave of his hand. As the scout flew off, the mech trudged back to Blurr, who waited a short distance away with Jazz. "Swoop says he knows your missing assassin's general location, but he can't pinpoint it exactly." The mech growled softly.

"We aren't looking for Prowl, Grimlock, we're looking for the Decepticon base." Blurr sighed. Looking at Jazz, he said, "I'm not wasting my time looking for a useless assassin who can't follow orders." Jazz said nothing, but scowled at Blurr, who merely grinned before turning back to the larger mech. "Has Snarl radioed in yet?"

"Not yet." Grimlock said quietly, shaking his head. "He's probably forgotten what he was suppose to do anyway…I'll let Swoop know he's got to look for Snarl too."

As Blurr and Grimlock conversed, Jazz turned his back on the two. How he hated Blurr at this moment…He didn't give a scrap about Prowl's well-being, he only wanted to use the assassin until he was either dead or useless…The mech wanted to go out and look for Prowl himself, but Blurr would obviously try to stop him…

What was he to do?

--

A/N Gah…Three more days until I return to my little slice of Hell I call school…Blah.


	6. Chapter 5: Operation Space Bridge

Prowl looked silently at the grey walls of the cell, contemplating what was going to happen next. The assassin had stubbornly refused medical treatment, and as he looked down at the shattered armor that hung from his chest, he sighed. He knew all too well Blurr wasn't going to bother looking for him.

Blurr had one rule he upheld more than any other: You lose your value, you aren't worth saving.

The assassin grimaced. He knew damn well that Blurr didn't find him valuable any more. Come to think of it, the only bot who seemed to act even remotely friendly towards him anymore was Jazz.

'So now what?' Prowl thought. 'I could always join the Decepticons…No, they'd never let me in. I've killed off too many of their important members…" Giving another sigh, he sat down in a corner and lost himself in memories of old conquests and victories.

--

"So the older me is less stubborn, huh?" Sari sat in Bumblebee's hand as they made their way to the Brig.

"Well, yeah. She was a lot more…quiet, I guess." Bumblebee said, shrugging. "What's your universe's version of me like?"

"Well, the Bee I know likes video games, showing off, and being the fastest thing on wheels…" Sari replied, "Oh, and he also sent an innocent bot to the Stockade once on accident. His name, apparently, was Wasp." Sari looked up as the yellow mech shuddered.

"Ugh, Wasp exists in that universe too?" Bee asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"The Wasp over here used to be my best friend," Bumblebee explained. "But he turned on me when I joined the Decepticons…Not surprising, really. Ah, here we are." The yellow mech allowed Sari on his shoulder as they stopped in front of a very heavy-looking door. Swiping his hand across it, it melted away, allowing him to proceed further down the dark hallway.

The Brig was a gloomy place, as it was lit by only a few bulbs, which gave the impression of ever shifting shadows in the darker corners. "Man, I hate it down here. Gives me the creeps." Bee commented quietly.

"Don't be such a chicken, Bee!" Sari replied in a chiding voice.

"That'd be easier if I knew what a chicken was."

After a short walk, the pair cam to the only cell with the energy bars activated. Inside, a dark shape sat silently, blue lenses dull. "Prowl?" Sari's voice seemed to snap Prowl out of his trance, because his lenses brightened and he looked towards the entrance.

"Oh, it's you. That human who knows my name…the one I was suppose to take to Ultra Magnus…" Prowl growled dismissively, looking away from them. "Are you here to taunt me?"

"No, Prowl, I just want to talk." Sari replied, and looked at Bumblebee. "Can you deactivate the bars?"

"Uh, I guess. But wouldn't he just jump right out?" Bee asked, eyeing Prowl nervously.

The caged mech chuckled softly. "I couldn't stand up even if I wanted to. You don't have to worry about me."

Bee still didn't look convinced, but set Sari down on the ground, and typed the password into the keypad next to the cell. The energy bars disappeared and Sari ran inside towards the injured mech. "Wow, Prowl, you're a mess." Sari commented, grabbing her key. "Hold still."

The Autobot insignia slid up, revealing the slot meant for the key. A faint blue glow emitted from the key as it was into the slot, and Prowl's injuries began to heal themselves. The holes in his armor began to close by themselves as Prowl looked on, a small smile on his faceplates. "Astounding…" He murmured, as Sari took back her key. "No wonder Ultra Magnus want it so badly." Gently picking Sari up, he said, "Perhaps I should consider joining the Decepticons…if only to keep that little power source away from those deserters..." Striding towards the open cell door, he ignored Bumblebee, who'd drawn his stingers and was bristling, and set Sari down outside of the cell. "Thank you for…opening my optics, Sari. I have some thinking to do, so if you don't mind, Bumblebee…" The ninja strode back to his corner and sat down, while the yellow mech reactivated the bars.

"Wow, that's some powerful key you've got there." Bumblebee commented, as the two strode out of the Brig. "Rumor has it that Prowl was completely sparkless, but I guess that's not the case, if all it took was a quick fix-up from your key to change his outlook on life."

"Really? Well, why did they say that Prowl's sparkless?"

"I forgot, you're new to this universe. Well, Prowl is Blurr's best assassin because he's got the best track record." Bumblebee began counting off on his fingers. "Dignitaries, Warlords, you name it, he's killed it, and he's never been caught."

"Wow… Sari was about to say more, but a distraction came in the form of Skywarp.

"Bumblebee! There you are!" The Seeker said, grinning. "We've got a situation! Lugnut and the new arrivals are under attack not far from the base! Megatron said to leave the kid with Sunstorm in the Med Bay, and to come with me!"

"But I can help!" Sari demanded, but Skywarp waved a hand.

"Sorry, kid, but those are Megatron's orders."

--

Meanwhile, Blurr stood on an elevated ledge, watching the four Decepticons fight for their lives below. The Autobots had sensed them coming, called for back up, and ambushed the mechs while they had been heading back to their base, and were now getting ready to capture them.

All they needed to do was incapacitate Lugnut, and their fates were sealed.

Unfortunately, the mech wasn't going down without a fight.

--

"Lugnut, this is insane!" The yellow mech yelled, shooting cement from the blaster attached to his arm. "There's too many of them!"

"Don't worry, MixMaster, I just called for back up, now if you don't mind, give me some room!" The purple mech yelled, preparing his disastrous punch. The three new mechs hit the floor as the punch swept through the Autobot forces, blowing most of them away like grains of sand. But soon enough more came to replace the fallen.

"Like Mix said, there's too many!" A skinnier yellow mech yelled, as an orange mech was repairing his leg with some armor taken off an Autobot. "We'll never make it out of here alive!"

"Hold still, darn it!" The orange mech yelled over the din of explosions, as he reached into his backpack-like subspace and pulled out a roll of what he called duct tape. "If you keep moving, Scrapper, I won't be able to fix you!"

"Who're you foolin' Wreck-Gar?" The yellow mech yelled back. "We're goners!"

--

Sari sat in the Med Bay next to a fidgeting Sunstorm. "Man, those guys are probably having such a blast right now, being able to fly…" The orange Seeker groaned.

"You've said that, like, fifty times already!" Sari snapped.

"Yeah, well, I'm loosing my ability to fly, so I have a right to complain!"

"Ok, look. If I can fix your wing, will you stop complaining?" Sari asked.

"You, fix my wing? Ha! What can you do?" Sunstorm snorted.

"Well, maybe if you let me see it, I'll be able to fix it!"

The orange Seeker grumbled, but allowed the girl to examine his wing. "Alright, hold still." Inserting her key into the slot behind the Seeker's insignia, they both watched as the wing began to repair itself until it was whole again.

Needless to say, Sunstorm was overjoyed.

"M-my wing! It's fixed!" He picked the girl up and beamed at her. "Thank you thank you thank you! I'd hug you but I might crush you."

"That's alright. Now, if you hurry, you might be able to make it to the battle."

Realization dawned on the mech's faceplates. "You're right! I can fly again!"

--

"We've almost got them…" Blurr said, smiling, as members of the Thieves' Guild began to close in on an exhausted Lugnut.

"Decepticons, attack!"

"Oh slag…" Blurr turned to see several fighter jets barreling towards them, guns blazing. The Autobots began to focus their firepower on the jets above, allowing Lugnut to get behind some boulders that shielded the new arrivals.

"About time they came…" Mixmaster grumbled, as Wreck-Gar began patching up Lugnut's armor.

--

Sari and Sunstorm zoomed towards the battle, Sari seated firmly in the Seeker's cockpit. "Aren't we going a little fast?" she asked loudly.

"Are you kidding?" Sunstorm asked. "At this rate, we'll never make it to the battle! I'm just slowing down so you won't be uncomfortable!"

"You call this slow?!" Sari yelled.

"Hold on! I can hear gunfire!" The mech said. Indeed, after only a few moments, they caught sight of stray lasers that were being fired in the distance. The seatbelt flew over Sari's chest. "Hang on, kid, we're in for a bumpy ride!" The jet's boosters seemed to go into overdrive as he sped towards the battlefield.

--

"Is that-?" Quicksnipe looked up and smiled at the orange Seeker overhead. "No way…"

Megatron, whom was locked in battle with Autobot Grimlock, had crossed swords with the mechs, and they appeared to be evenly matched, until a few blasts from a null ray knocked the large Autobot off balance. The Decepticon leader looked up and grinned as Sunstorm swept across the battlefield with the skill of a senior warrior, peppering his enemies with a hail of blasts from his null ray. It was fairly obvious that the mech's appearance was having an affect on the battle, because Blurr, who'd nearly been hit by one of the blasts, chose that time to call a hasty retreat.

As Skywarp, Sunstorm and Ramjet chased the fleeing Autobot forces, a cheer came from the ragged Decepticon group.

Lugnut saluted his leader as he limped towards him. "Sorry about almost getting captured, Lord Megatron," The mech said apologetically. "It won't happen again."

"Lugnut, my old friend, I'm sure it will, but as long as you're a Decepticon, you will not be abandoned." Megatron replied. "Now, where are those new arrivals?" The Decepticon leader strode up to the three mechs, two of whom saluted. "Ah, Mixmaster and Scrapper. I've heard good things about you two."

"You probably heard right then." Scrapper said in an oddly modest voice. "Best repairmechs you could ever ask for, that's us!"

"And…who is that?" Megatron asked, nodding at the orange mech who appeared to be made of various, everyday objects.

"Hello there!" The mech in question said, vigorously shaking Megatron's hand. He sounded a bit too cheerful, considering the fact he'd just seen Autobots gunned down in front of him.

"Oh, that's just Wreck-Gar," Mixmaster said, "We found him on some deserted planet, and decided to come along with us. The guy's useless at fighting, but when it comes to repairing stuff, oh man, he's good. But he's got a few screws loose, if you know what I mean. I'm guessing it has to do with living alone that whole time." Wreck-Gar nodded, as though he had no clue what the phrase 'A few screws loose' meant.

"Well, we might as well bring him back to the base. If anything, he'll be useful as a second Medic or repair mech."

--

Down in the Decepticon Brig, Prowl meditated, contemplating whether or not he should join the Decepticons, when he detected footsteps. Looking up, he was surprised to see Jazz standing at the door.

"Jazz?" Prowl said, standing up. "How in the pit did you get here?"

"That doesn't matter," he said, jamming his nunchuks into the keypad, destroying it and causing the energy bars to disappear. "What matters is that I'm busting you out of this place. Come on, we don't have much time…"

"I'm not going."

"What?"

"I said I'm not going with you."

"Prowl, are you crazy?" Jazz asked, shocked. "The Decepticons must have brainwashed you or something! Come on, Prowl, I got this far into enemy territory, and I'm not leaving without you!"

"Jazz, that kid that came out of the wormhole showed me that Ultra Magnus can't get to that key…" Prowl said quietly. "He'll only abuse its power, and I, having experienced that firsthand, can't let him have it."

"Slag it, Prowl!" Jazz snarled, storming into the cell and gripping the mech's shoulder. His tone softened. "You already know Blurr's given up on you, right?"

"I figured as much."

"Well, I haven't! Look, all I want to say is I value your life over mine, so if it comes down to us facing off in battle, you'll have to kill me because I'm sure as the Pit not fighting you!"

"Jazz…" Prowl tried to say something, but the Autobot stormed off without another word.

--

"So, Sari, you were able to regrow Sunstorm's wing with your key, huh, kid?" Quicksnipe held Sari in the palm of her hand, gazing thoughtfully at the girl. "Impressive."

"It was the only way to get him to stop whining."

Laughter came from Seekers, who'd formed a sort of aerial escort for the vehicles below. Megatron had flown a short distance ahead of the group in order to scout any potential ambushes, although he was confident there wouldn't be any at this point. Below, Bumblebee realized he'd gone another day without recharge…

High above the Seekers, a black dot tracked their movements.

'_Swoop to Grimlock,' _The flier said softly into his comlink, as he glided after the Decepticons. _'I'm following the Decepticons to their base as I speak.'_

'_Good, Swoop. Give me the co-ordinates as soon as you have a lock on the location.'_

'_Will do.'_

-

As soon as the Decepticons returned to the base, they all trooped to the meeting room, where Megatron stood at the head of the table. The mech held up a hand for silence.

"Fellow Decepticons," he began. "As you know, we have had a human guest in our midst for the past couple of Earth days." He nodded at Sari. "Miss Sari has in her possession a key that has been infused with the power of the Allspark, and it is imperative that Ultra Magnus never get his hands on it."

But how will we assure he'll never get it?" Starscream asked.

"We must send Miss Sari back to her own universe." Gasps of shock came from the assembled Decepticons. "It can now be made possible with the stolen space bridge blueprints Swindle obtained for us, and with the help from our three newest arrivals." Mixmaster and Scrapper stood from their chairs and bowed at the applause from the surrounding Decepticons. Wreck-Gar was among the bots clapping, however, as he hadn't exactly gotten the hint that he was going to be part of the construction team.

"We must have this thing up soon…The Autobots are getting agitated, and they'll come looking for Sari and her key. Mixmaster, since we already have the supplies for you to use, how soon could you have the bridge up?"

"If we work fast…I'd say an Earth week."

"That's too long!" Starscream snarled, slamming a fist on the table. "The Autobots will have found and captured Sari by then!"

"Well, if we had help…" Wreck-Gar said in a thoughtful, sing-song voice. "We could finish it faster!"

"Wait…I could always ask Lockdown if his crew wants to help…" Thundercracker realized. He and Lockdown went waaay back, and the two had been very good friends since they'd met.

"And we could always check if Swindle could hire us some help." Skywarp added, causing Quicksnipe to scowl.

"We could also start it off while you guys check we'll be getting any extra hands on this job…" Scrapper piped up.

"So it's agreed, than," Megatron said, looking at his loyal followers. "While our friends work on the space bridge, we will see what we can do about getting them some help."

--

A/N Ook…My hands…Yes, I did add Wreck-Gar in there. He's too adorably confused NOT to be here. XD

Anyway, wow! Sari's getting a chance to get back home! But will the Autobots capture her before then?


	7. Chapter 6: Sorta Bleak Looking

A/N Ok, I may not update until this Friday due to my slice of Hell opening up again….Gweh. So I bid you all a farewell until the end of the week.

Also, Wreck-Gar's diolouge is courtesy of my pal, Insane Rice of the Cosmos.

--

Megatron sat in the meeting room, looking up at the two screens which held the images of two different mechs.

One had a face with a very skull-like appearance, and had a hook for a hand, completing his space pirate attire. The other had enormous purple optics and a carefree grin plastered on his faceplates.

"Megatron! To what do I own this call?" The one with purple optics asked in a cheery voice.

"Make it quick," The skull-faced mech growled. "I've got prisoners to deal with."

"Swindle, Lockown, I'd like to request some help. We require help in assembling a space bridge…and we have all the parts we need." Megatron said, cutting off an eager Swindle, who looked as though he'd wanted to say something.

"Huh? Megatron, my pirates are warriors, not construction bots." Lockdown snarled.

"And I generally don't have extra help lying around…" Swindle said.

Megatron frowned. How in the world was he going to convince them to help? Suddenly, help arrived…in the form of Wreck-Gar. Said mech poked his head into the room, looking around curiously.

"Hey, this isn't my room!" He pouted. "This place is too confusing!"

"Hey, is who I think it is?" Lockdown looked at the newcomer. "Wreck-Gar, you old screw-loose bucket of bolts, I though I recognized your voice!"

"Wait, Wreck-gar? As in, 'THE Wreck-Gar'? The inventor?" Swindle asked curiously. "Really now…"

"Huh? Oh, hey Mr. Piratebot and Swindle!" Wreck-Gar said cheerfully and turned to Lockdown's screen. "I never could remember your name."

"It's Lockdown. Remember? You repaired my ship when we crashed on your planet roughly half a vorn ago?"

"Oh, yeah! Well, Lockup, think you could help my buddy Megatron here?" Wreck-Gar asked.

"Sure thing, since I owe you a favor…and it's Lockdown."

"Okie dokie, ShutDown."

"Lockdown."

"That's what I said, ShutUp."

The pirate scowled as Swindle began to laugh. "As for me," the chuckling mech said "I'll se what I can do about rounding up some workers and maybe some spare parts…Heh, 'ShutUp', I have to remember that…"

"We'll be there in half 'n Earth day…" Lockdown growled.

Once the pair had shut off their screens, Megatron turned to the orange mech. "Since when were you an inventor?"

"An inventor? I was an inventor? Gee, I was just tinkering around with a bunch of trash heaps and sold whatever I made to Mr. Swindle over there. I guess he really liked them." Wreck-Gar said, shrugging.

--

Jazz had returned to the base, tired and covered in dust. As he dragged himself to his room, he was soon accosted by a very angry Blurr.

"Jazz, where have you been?!" The mech snarled. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"I was infiltrating the Decepticon base…" Jazz said without his usual sneer and Blurr noticed.

"What's eating you?" He asked.

"I tried to break Prowl out…he said he was joining the Decepticons." Jazz continued. Blurr tried not to smile. If he couldn't have Prowl, then neither could Jazz. The ninja handed the mech a small disk. "I took the liberty of mapping out the Decepticon base…The rumors are true, it really is a maze." Jazz trudged off without another word.

Blurr looked down at the disk and grinned. Ultra Magnus needed to know about this.

Jazz strode silently to his room. He hurt all over, physically and mentally. All he needed was a quick wash and some rest. After that, maybe he could think of something to change Prowl's mind…

--  
Lockdown was indeed take pride in his promptness. Indeed, in only half and Earth day, his crew was there, grumbling slightly about having to do construction work, but Megatron assured them there would probably be fighting, since the Autobots were so nervous as of late.

MixMaster, Scrapper, Bumblebee and Skywarp had already started setting up the base for the portal into a large cave that had been the original heart of the Decpticon base. Soon, things quickly picked up as over one hundred mechs and femmes pitched in to help.

As Starscream stood over the site, he was interrupted by his com link going off. _'Starscream? It's Quicksnipe. Get Megatron down to the Brig, out prisoner has something to say.'_

'_Very well.' _The Seeker said and swooped down to look for Megatron, who insisted on helping in the building of the space bridge. Said mech was helping lift a very heavy load along with Lugnut.

"Megatron, that Autobot Prowl has something important to tell you." The Seeker said, "Says it can't wait."

"Very well, Starscream, I'll get down there once I've put this component into place.

--

Sari was bored.

She and BlackArachnia hadn't had anything to do since Megatron had decided to build the space bridge. "BA, isn't there anything to do around here?" she asked. "I'm bored."

The spider femme smiled at the nickname Sari had given her. "Sadly, no. There isn't much to do around here."

"Well, I really need some fresh air. Can't we go outside?"

"Well…"

"Please, BA?"

"Alright, but I'd prefer it if we had Sunstorm with us, since the Autobots are looking for you…" BlackArachnia replied hesitantly. "Also, I suggest you leave you key behind, just to be safe."

--

As the spider scuttled across the barren wasteland that used to be a forest, the orange Seeker flew ahead and acted as a scout. Sari sat on BlackArachnia's back, looking around. She never knew the bots that had been her friends could cause so much destruction…

"Horrid, isn't it?" BlackArachnia asked, as the ruined city came into view. "The Autobots must be stopped from making the whole planet like this…

After a few minutes, they had reached the city. Sunstorm transformed and landed close to the girls. "I didn't detect any Autobots around here, but still, I recommend you be careful."

"Since when do you recommend being careful?" BlackArachnia asked.

"What? Just because I embody recklessness doesn't mean I can't be careful once in my life."

--

Megatron stood before the Autobot, waiting for what he had to say. "Speak your piece." The Decepticon leader said.

"Megatron," Prowl began. "I happen to know that the Autobots know the location of your base."

"How's that a problem? The place is a maze."

"Earlier, on old Autobot friend of mine decided to visit…and I'm betting he did a mapscan on the whole place." Prowl replied, a note of sadness in his voice that was disregarded by the Decepticon.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention…" Megatron said, "But why are you telling me this?"

"I…I want to join the Decepticons."

--

Sari sat on BlackArachnia's shoulder, looking at the destruction that surrounded her. All around, he ruins seemed to echo with sad memories…

"Wow…" Was all Sari could say in the face of all this destruction.

"I know." BlackArachnia said. "If only we'd activated first, then maybe we could have done something to stop this…"

"It's not your fault you overslept." Sari said reassuringly. "It happens."

"Yes, I guess it's too late for regrets now…" BlackArachnia sighed.

"Hey, just out of curiosity, were you and Optimus ever together?" Sari asked, remembering something.

"Excuse me?" The spider femme asked, looking surprised.

"Back in my universe, you and Optimus seemed like each other each other before you turned into a spider." Sari explained.

"Well…" She gave another sad sigh. "Optimus is a bit…pompous and I only liked him as a friend. Sentinel was too quiet, but loyal, so he was also only a friend…The only mech I really liked like that was Skywarp." She glared over at Sunstorm, who appeared to be listening in. "Can I help you, Sunstorm?"

"Who, me? Nooo, I was just…looking over there."

"You're a terrible liar, Sunstorm."

"Yeah, well-Look out!" The mech shoved BlackArachnia away, as a bolt of electricity shot past them. Getting up, the Seeker turned to see a green mech standing before him. The mech was about Bumblebee's size, but with a large lower jaw guard.

"Aha!" The mech growled. "I though I saw you flying overhead, Sunstorm. Although I'm surprised the wing I zapped off grew back."

"Wasp…Pleasure to see you again." The mech growled back, null rays at the ready. "Or it would be, if you hadn't nearly robbed me of my flight, you pile of scrap!"

"That's Wasp?" Sari asked. "He's so short!"

"Don't let that fool you, Sari," BlackArachnia said, getting up as well. "Wasp's the Elite Guard's best Marksman, and for good reason. Only HE could zap Sunstorm's wing off while he was in flight."

"Ah, that's the child Ultra Magnus wants." Wasp said, grinning beneath the jaw guard. "I'll just be taking her along to the base then."

"Over my dead body, Wasp!" Sunstorm hissed.

"Well, that can be arranged. Autobots, attack!" The trio soon found themselves surrounded by enemy forces.

"Huh. Looks like we'll have to fight our way out of this then." Sunstorm said, null rays powering up.

"Are you crazy?! We'll be slaughtered!" BlackArachnia hissed, bristling at the advancing Autobots. "I don't like the looks these guys are giving me…"

"Don't worry, darlin', I'll protect you." Sunstorm said in a teasing voice.

"Shut up."

As the Autobots began to shoot, the two Decepticons transformed and charged at the group, webbing and lasers making the Autobots jump back in alarm. They'd expected the enemy to hold their ground.

Sunstorm gave a loud whoop as he took off into the sky, lasers raining down on the Autobots. Meanwhile BlackArachnia had transformed again, injecting venom and shooting webbing at every enemy in her path. Sari was balanced precariously on her shoulder and hanging on for dear life.

--

Back at the base, Megatron had gone back to the site of the new space bridge with Prowl in tow. "Mixmaster, how goes the building?" The Decepticon leader asked.

The mech looked up from the blueprints. "At this rate, we should be done with it in a few Earth days."

"Excellent news."

"Yeah, well, there's one thing: we lack a powerful enough energy source to power this thing."

"What about Sari's key?" Prowl asked. "It managed to fix me up in less then a few kliks."

"Hmmm…We'll have to see. Speaking of which, has anyone actually SEEN Sari or BlackArachnia?" Megatron asked.

"Or that freak, Sunstorm? He was supposed to be helping me with a few things, but he's gone and disappeared."

--

Sunstorm was having a blast. BlackArachnia was not. Plain and simple.

The techno-organic was getting tired and the Autobots had backed her into a corner. "Uh, Sunstorm?" A little help?" She yelled at the jet, who swooped down, guns blazing.

"I got you, BlackArachnia, don't worry." The orange Seeker said, grinning. "By the way, it appears they've jammed our com links."

"YOU TELL ME THIS NOW?!" She snarled.

"Well, yeah." He replied, grinning.

--

A/N I'M SORRY. This chapter just seems so short…And I can't update until this Friday…


	8. Chapter 7: Caught

A/N: RADDA. Ok, so some divine force has prevented me from actually starting this chapter until just now. I really hope I can still write this…

--

Sunstorm stood protectively in front of BlackArachnia and Sari, null rays at the ready. "Touch them, and I'll shred you all." Sunstorm snarled angrily. The jet appeared to lay down his life for the two, and that's what surprised BlackArachnia. She and Sunstorm had never been entirely close, but still…

"How noble of you, Sunstorm." Wasp sneered. "Too bad it's pointless. Autobots, atta-!"

BOOM.

A massive explosion ripped through the back end of the throng of enemies. High above, a familiar looking bomber jet was circling, along with five more fighter planes. "Just in the nick of time, too!" Sunstorm cackled, and began firing into the crowd, insane laughter escaping his vocalizer.

Skywarp had spotted BlackArachnia far below, and had began a downward spiral, blasting his way through the crowd. "Hang on, BlackArachnia! I'm coming!" He yelled, transforming.

"Skywarp!" BlackArachnia yelled, smiling. Suddenly, the femme felt something grab her arm from behind. Turning, she came face to face with two mechs from her nightmares.

"Hello, Elita." The red and blue mech said, grinning. "Remember us?" Before she could respond, the femme felt a massive electric shock run through her. She gave a cry of pain and crumpled to the ground, systems overwhelmed by the shock.

"BlackArachnia!" Sari yelped, before a large hand snatched Sari away from her unmoving guardian. "Let me go!" The human yelled angrily, as the muscular blue mech dragged BlackArachnia away…until he was tackled by a furious Skywarp. The black and purple jet pummeled Sentinel Prime mercilessly, snarling incoherently. Only when Starscream dragged him off did he stop, panting. The battered Autobot, surprisingly, was able to get to his feet and limp off with a few major injuries and a badly bruised pride.

"T-thank you, Starscream." Skywarp muttered, dusting himself off and knelt next to BlackArachnia. "Is she-?"

Quicksnipe looked the femme over before sighing. "She'll be alright. She's only stunned."

Skywarp smiled wearily and sighed as well. "Good."

"Hey, idiot!" Skywarp snarled, looking over his shoulder while blasting at several incoming Autobots. "Aren't you forgetting someone?!"

"Wait, where's Sari?" Starscream asked, joining his clone in attacking the Autobots. "SLAG. Sunstorm, don't tell me you we're too busy protecting BlackArachnia that you completely forgot about Sari!"

"Um, well…"

"DAMNIT, SUNSTORM, FOCUS ON THE SITUATION AT HAND!" Starscream snarled, transforming. "Thundercracker, Ramjet, back me up, I'm going to look for Sari!"

"Right!" The two mechs said, taking up Starscream's position for him, as the Seeker blasted straight up, scanning for Sari's presence somewhere on the battlefield…But there was no sign of her.

"Decepticons, retreat!" Starscream ordered. Skywarp had to carry BlackArachnia's unconscious form off the battlefield, dental plates grinding in frustration as he listened to the jeering below him.

They could say what they wanted. He didn't care.

--

"Ultra Magnus, sir!" Optimus' grip on Sari prevented him from saluting, but he held up the human instead. "Look what I got!" Blurr, who stood next to the Autobot Commander, gasped and glared at the now smug Optimus.

Ultra Magnus stooped down to examine Sari, who instinctively tried to back away. After a few moments, Ultra Magnus whacked Optimus on the top of the helm. The stunned mech topped over, as the commander took Sari from his grip, and Blurr fell over, laughing. "Where's her key, you imbecile?" He asked in a harsh voice.

"Key?" Optimus asked in a dazed voice.

"Yes, you idiot, her key! She's useless without her key!" Turning to a heaving Blurr, he held her out to the mech and said, "Take her down to that old fool's lab. He'll be keeping an optic on her until we get that key from the Decepticons."

Smirking and giggling, Blurr obliged, taking the wriggling human from his commander's grasp and dashed down to the Tech Labs, still chuckling at what had happened to Optimus.

--

BlackArachnia awoke to the sound of shouting. Sitting up, she found herself looking at Sunstorm and Skywarp arguing very loudly, with Thundercracker and Ramjet trying to keep them from killing each other.

"YOU ALMOST GOT HER KILLED!" Skywarp was snarling.

"Well, I was a little BUSY keeping an optic on ALL THREE OF US!" Sunstorm retorted angrily. "Besides, where were YOU when we sent out the distress signal?!"

"I was helping Starscream set up the controls for the Space Bridge, and what were you thinking?! Going out without telling anyone, now look what's happened!"

"ENOUGH." An angry voice snarled. The two mechs looked to see a very pissed off Megatron standing in the Infirmary doorway, arms crossed and glaring at the two now nervous mechs. "I've had it with your constant arguing! If I hear another WORD about this matter, I'm sending you BOTH to the brig for three days, REGARDLESS of who started it. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir…" Both mechs grumbled.

"Good. Now, we need you all in the Meeting Room." Megatron looked at the spider femme. "Especially you, BlackArachnia. The Autobots have sent us what appears to be a ransom note." The two Seekers swung their heads in surprise.

"BlackArachnia!" Skywarp yelled, rushing to her side. "You ok?"

"I'm fine, Skywarp, really." She replied, smiling. Sunstorm frowned and stormed off, brushing past Megatron without a backwards glance. BlackArachnia watched him go. "What's up with him?" She asked.

"I dunno. He's been like that since we got back." Megatron replied. "Are you able to walk?"

Sliding off the berth, she took a few shaky steps forward and stumbled, but was quickly caught by Skywarp. "Oh, with some support, I'll manage." She said, leaning on Skywarp.

--

Sari had been dumped on a table in a very dark room, as Blurr left the room, still smiling about the incident. Looking around, she saw outlines of what appeared to be various inventions and machines and jumped when a voice grunted, "Whozder?" A figure detached itself from the dark walls and strode towards Sari. Stepping into the girl's range of vision, the figure revealed itself to be an older mech with a white and red paint job with a broken chevron.

Sari gasped. "Ratchet?"

"Hmmm. You must be that girl Ultra Magnus keep rambling on about." The old bot growled. "Yeah, that's right. I'm Ratchet." Pardon the mess."

"What are you doing down here?" Sari asked.

"Well, I'm pretty much the eternal sentry to these piles of garbage." The mech responded, motioning to the dark lumps around the room. "There's no room in the Autobots for old mechs like me anymore, so they stick us with menial tasks to keeps us busy until we offline permanently."

"That's awful."

"Yeah, well, Ultra Magnus'll never know that. He's as old as I am, but as the leader, he's immune to his own rules, if you can call those things rules."

"Well, why don't you help me get out of here? I mean, if only to disobey your jerk of a boss."

"I would, but what would I do? I don't know any way to get you back to your friends." The old mech's shoulders sagged tiredly. "Nevertheless, I'll try and think of something, kid." He trudged to the spot where he'd been and sat back down, optics powering down.

Sari couldn't help but feel sorry for him. 'Just wait, Ratchet,' she thought. 'I'll get you out of here too.'

--

"They're demanding the key in exchange for Sari?! That Ultra Magnus has some sort of bearings…" Starscream growled, slamming his fist on the table.

"Either way, we still can't let the Autobots possess the key." Megatron said quietly.

"So we're just going to leave Sari there?!" Sunstorm demanded. Skywarp appeared to be holding back a retort, as he scowled at the Seeker.

"We can't…She needs to get back to her own dimension…" BlackArachnia growled. "So, anybot got any ideas as to how we bust her out?"

"OH! OH, PICK ME!" Wreck-Gar said, raising his hand and jumping out of his seat.

"Yes, Wreck-Gar?"

"Well…"

**One complicated explanation later…**

"And that's how it'll work. What do you guys think?" The orange trashbot was faced with stunned silence. "What?" He asked nervously. "Don't you like it?"

"Well…we do, Wreck-Gar, I'm just surprised you came up with something so…elaborate on such short notice." Megatron replied.

"Vhy in ze vorld didn't I think of zat sooner?" Blitzwing asked. "It's brilliant!"

"All for going with Wreck-Gar's plan say aye."

A loud chorus of 'ayes' sounded around the room.

"So it's agreed. Operation 'Keep Away' is a go."

--

A/N HOLY CRAP, DID I BS DIS OR WHAT?! XD


	9. Chapter 8: Keep Away and a Coup

A/N Ok ok, yes, I have no idea what I'm going to write, so from here, I'm winging it. BTW, Roulette is indeed canon. BARELY. XD Hoo-rah for TF WIKI.

--

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Wreck-Gar?"

"Positive. Look, all we need to do is pretend that Prowl caught BlackArachnia, Skywarp, and I. He'll sneak us into the Autobot base, where we'll find Sari and we'll start Operation: Keep Away. It's simple, really."

"But can we trust Prowl? I mean, he's only been a Decepticon for three earth hours, tops." Skywarp asked, looking at the ninja standing with his back to them at the door.

"Sure we can!" Wreck-Gar replied. "I mean, if we can't trust Prowl, who can we trust?"

'We're doomed.' Skywarp throught.

--

As the Decepticons made their way towards the Autobot base, Prowl paused. Something was coming…Looking up, he saw Swoop barreling down towards him. The ninja sprang up and grabbed the flier, wrestling him to the ground. Transforming, Swoop snarled, "Let go of me, traitor!"

"Would a traitor rat out three of his comrades?" Prowl asked, motioning to BlackArachnia, Skywarp and Wreck-Gar, each one cuffed securely. "Besides, what I told Jazz was a lie."

Swoop looked blankly at the prisoners and at Prowl. "You're not…?" He asked, and the ninja shook his head. Swoop grinned. "Oh, ok. I'll go off and tell Ultra Magnus then." Transforming again, the mch flew off.

After waiting a few moments, Skywarp smirked. "What an idiot."

"Tell me about it…" Prowl grumbled, rubbing the side of his helm in irritation. "Oh, and Skywarp, you might want to start resisting a little more. We were lucky that Swoop's got the brain of a cinder block, but Ultra Magnus won't be fooled if you just stroll in there with grins on your faceplates…well, Wreck-Gar could, but you two…"

"We get it, we get it…" BlackArachnia growled.

"We'll see what we can do." Skywarp said, nodding.

--

Jazz, for the first time in vorns, stood at the gate, at full attention. He had chosen to take up guard duty, and he hadn't done that since he'd been accepted into the Elite Guard. In truth, he was waiting for Prowl to arrive, but he'd said to Ultra Magnus that he needed to set a good example for the others on his team, even if it meant taking up menial jobs.

High above, a robotic hawk glided over the landscape, scanning the progress of the small group of Decepticons as they made their way towards the Autobot base.

Laserbeak was an asset to the Decepticons. He knew it, everybody knew it, and he was proud. Despite this, he was still loyal to only Soundwave, no exceptions. Today, however he was streaming info to Megatron directly…on Soundwave's orders, of course.

The mech in question hovered high above the Autobot base, well out of range of any detection systems. With him were Starscream, Thundercracker, Ramjet, Sunstorm, Quicksnipe and Blitzwing. Lugnut, the two Constructicons, and a portion of Lockdown's army would be on the ground, getting ready to run interference should the situation get too messy.

Sunstorm floated impatiently, muttering under his breath. "What's your malfunction now, Sunstorm?" Thundercracker asked.

"I just thought that I could have gone in BlackArachnia's place, that's all…" The mech growled.

"You and BlackArachnia again!" Ramjet jeered. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you have a thing for her!"

"I DO, OK?" Sunstorm yelled. "Happy?" He frowned. "But she's too busy with Skywarp, so I'm out of luck. I should just face facts, they were made for each other…" Sighing, he drifted away from his brothers.

"Wow, poor Sunstorm." Thundercracker said. "He's so hung up on her…"

"Tough slag," Ramjet said dismissively. "If he wants to chase her for the rest of his miserable life, let him."

"Could you BE any more of an insensitive frag, Ramjet?" Quicksnipe snarled.

"What? It's called tough love, Quicksnipe." Ramjet replied.

"You…you're just jealous that you'll never get a femme in this lifetime!" Quicksnipe retorted.

As the Seekers argued, Blitzwing watched on from afar. "My…" He said to himself. "And I thought my other personas and I fought like sparklings." Switching to his black, random face, he chortled, "Ah, but you've got to admit, Quicksnipe's sassy when she's mad! I like zat in a femme…" His angry red face switched back before his idiot random side could ruin that line with a joke. "Shutupshutupshutup!" He snarled. "SHE DOESN'T KNOW ZAT!"

Switching back to his icy blue face, he saw that the Seekers were staring at him. 'Urgh…' he though. 'Vay to go eediots. Now zey all know!' He was answered by angry yelling and laughter…in his head.

He hated his other sides so much right now.

--

Meanwhile, the Decepticons were being escorted in by Jazz and Wasp's young protégé, Roulette. The young femme was yet another Elite Guard warrior-in-training and Jazz was getting her ready for her initiation ceremony, but that wasn't for a while. Either way, she pretty much absorbed every word her mentor threw in her direction and dissected it to a maddening degree. But, considering she could shoot like Wasp, if not better, her overanalyzing flaws were disregarded.

The femme stood guard behind Wreck-Gar and BlackArachnia while Jazz and Prowl kept an optic on Skywarp, who glared furtively around at the staring Autobots.

That's when Sentinel Prime strode up to them, and he didn't look too happy.

"What's the big idea, bringing Decepticons here, Jazz?!" He snarled.

"Decepticon PRISONERS, Sentinel Prime." Prowl corrected him. "Did you really believe I'd go over to the Decepticons? Hardly."

Sentinel glared at the mech, "I personally don't care either way, ninja. However," He smirked. "I think Blurr will be pleasantly surprised." Jazz smirked as well and ran off to tell Blurr of Prowl's return.

--

Sari sat with Ratchet, listening to him speak about how he'd tossed here after he failed to rescue his teammate, Arcee. Normally, the girl wasn't interested in such old stories, but she couldn't help but wonder what had happened to him exactly. Besides, it wasn't like there was anything else to do down here.

"So, you two were trying to steal info from the Decepticons, and Arcee was killed as the result?" Sari asked quietly.

"Yes…" He sighed. "Ultra Magnus wouldn't let the issue go, despite the fact that she wasn't truly loyal to the Autobots…" The old mech shrugged. He was about to continue, but suddenly, Blurr burst through the door, an evil smirk on his faceplates.

"Ah, there you are, human!" He said, striding up to Sari and ignoring the old mech. "Guess what? Some of your glitch-head Decepticon buddies got captured! Turns out Prowl was lying to you fools the entire time!"

"W-what?" Sari gasped. "No, that can't be right…" Prowl would never lie to her! Right?

"Too bad, because he's escorting those freaks to the Stockades right no-!" He was interrupted by a very loud BOOM. "What the-?" He was knocked aside by an angry Skywarp, Wreck-Gar and BlackArachnia right behind him.

"Hey, Sari, sorry to have kept you waiting." Skywarp said, offering a hand out to the girl. "We've got to get out of here, so hop on!"

Looking back, Sari said, "Not without Ratchet."

"What?"

"I can't leave Ratchet behind in this dump!" Sari motioned to the old bot, who looked dully at the Decepticons. "Besides, he has a score to settle with Ultra Magnus!"

Skywarp sighed. "Fine! He can come with us! Just…make sure he can keep up with the plan."

"What plan?" Sari asked.

"Why, 'Operation: Keep Away', of course!" Wreck-Gar said helping Ratchet up. "Come on, old guy, let's get you outta here!"

Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Ratchet seemed to glare angrily at Wreck-Gar's youthful, annoying energy.

--

Jazz and Wasp had been sent to investigate a disturbance in the lower sectors, when they were forced to dodge several blasts from a charging Skywarp with Sari clinging to his shoulder. From behind, BlackArachnia pounced on Wasp in her alt mode and her fangs pierced his armor and her venom filled his circuitry. Meanwhile, Ratchet was proving far more useful than Skywarp had first though. His magnetic force field allowed Skywarp to blast Autobots without the risk of getting hit himself. The Medic was a bit slow, but with Wreck-Gar's help, he kept up with the group. Jazz was giving chase from behind, but he needed to deal with the debris falling from Wreck-Gar's 'backpack' subspace.

Among the debris were a few cinderblocks, a laptop, several Autobot and Decepticon symbols with very sharp edges, various human undergarments, spare parts of different shapes and sizes, several broken guns, a large slab of beef and, last but not least, a small grenade…that went off the second it hit the ground.

Luckily for Jazz, it was only a smoke grenade, but the plume of smoke it gave the Decepticons enough time to escape.

--

Prowl, meanwhile, had taken over the Autobot security systems. After a quick bout of smashing equipment in a very un-ninja manner, he lit the signal flare, smashed through a window and leapt down across the roofs of the buildings, the flare burning brightly.

That was the signal for the Decepticons to attack.

But first things first. Stopping, he tossed the flare aside and pulled a few devices and a controller out of his subspace.

He needed to forget some harsh memories here. Leaping off the roof like a cat, he slapped one of the devices on the base of a building.

--

As the small Decepticon party made it past the gate with a surprising lack of resistance and out into the open, they looked up to see Megatron and the rest of the Decepticons flying above them. 'Skywarp,' Megatron said over the com-link. 'Lockdown's troops are up ahead. Where are all the Autobots that are suppose to be chasing you?'

'I don't know.' Skywarp answered. A loud explosion answered that question.

The Autobot base had been blown skyward.

The Decepticons paused and looked back in horror as Prowl dashed towards them, an evil grin on his faceplates.

He was holding what appeared to be a detonation controller in his hands.

"What?" Prowl asked, smiling innocently at the shocked stares the Decepticons were giving him. "I didn't do it."

--

Amid the debris, Blurr stirred and pulled himself out of a pile of metal. As battered as he was, he was alive…but were his followers? Pressing his insignia, it let out a high frequency sound that only his thieves could hear. One by one, they emerged from the ruin, knowing better than to be alive and not answer Blurr's call.

Shutting off the whistle, Blurr sent several bots off to scout for others trapped in the rubble.

After a while, a mech came back to Blurr and saluted. "We have reason to believe that Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime did not make it, sir. Sentinel Prime was founded wounded, along with several Elite Guard mechs, who number at one hundred at least. Their wounds aren't fatal, so we can have them up and running in less than a cycle or so."

"Hmmm…" Was all Blurr said, "And what of Jazz?"

"He's still missing, sire."

"I see."

"Sir?"

"Attend to the wounded. I will be with you shortly, and fifty thousand credits for the searcher who find Ultra Magnus or Optimus Prime. An extra ten thousand if they find them alive."

Saluting, the mech ran off to spread the message.

Blurr saw this as an opportunity to advance his rank in the Autobots…but as opportunistic as he was, he wasn't stupid. He would wait until he was SURE both of those idiots were offline before he stepped up to be Leader of the Autobots. Until the, he would simply have to be patient…and go after those Decepticons. Not only could he use it as an excuse to take charge should either of his superiors return, but he could get the fabled Key from those fools, and he would rule, even if those two came back!

Blurr smiled. A coup…How deliciously satisfying after the way Ultra Magnus had treated him like a recruiting turbo-hound…


	10. Chapter 9: The Defintion of a Happy End

"Prowl…what did you-aw, forget it." Skywarp said in an exasperated manner. The ninja stood there, arms crossed and looking pleased with himself. "Either way, it would seem that we won't have to deal with the Autobots after all."

"Skywarp, don't say that! You'll jinx us all!" Sari said.

"What? Why?"

"Everyone knows that if you say something like 'It can't get any worse', things WILL get worse!"

"Oh really? How so?"

"Well…"

--

A hand emerged from the wreckage.

Straining and tugging at the debris around him, Ultra Magnus heaved himself out of the mess. He was, thankfully, only slightly damaged but still a bit stunned after that blast. Shaking his head, he pressed his insignia, which emitted a high frequency sound that was only detectable by HIS followers. Soon, what remained of his followers emerged in a zombie-like fashion, leaving their leader tapping his foot impatiently. After a while of much moaning, complaining and kicks to the head (issued by mech himself) for complaining, nearly ninety percent of his followers had risen. The rest were dismissed as either cowards, dead, or dead cowards.

Not among the ranks were Optimus and Sentinel Prime, Wasp, and Jazz.

"Alright, you rustbuckets!" Ultra Magnus yelled. "Blurr and his flunkies have gone to get that child's key and he'll probably fail. Does anyone know why?" After a short silence, he continued, "Because that fool is getting too big for his armor! He's getting greedy and is trying to get to the girl's universe for his own purposes! Stick with me, boys and girls. I'll lead you to the point of glory that's free of the risk of defeat. Who's with me?!"

A loud cheer erupted from the assembled bots.

--

"See, that's what happens!" Sari growled. The cheers had echoed from the rubble of the Autobot base…right into the audios of the Decepticons.

"Wow, Prowl, you clearly have no experience when it comes to explosives, do you?" BlackArachnia commented dryly. She flashed a smile at his frowning face. "Either way, I for one am getting out of here before those Autobots gain a head of steam and overtake us."

"Ah, good! A volunteer!" Wreck-Gar said in a delighted voice. Snatching Sari away from a surprised Skywarp, he handed the girl off to the femme. "Alright, let's get moving! It looks like Operation Keep Away is going to continue after all!"

--

As the Autobots gave chase, BlackArachnia held Sari close to her, occasionally looking over shoulder to check if the Autobots were gaining on them. Only Skywarp, Ratchet, Prowl and Wreck-Gar stood between her and the hoard. "Maybe it's just me," BlackArachnia panted. "But I think that they're getting closer to us."

"Well, you won't need to worry about that. Look!" Wreck-Gar pointed above, where the remaining Seekers, Lugnut and Megatron hovered, poised and ready to cause a diversion.

Suddenly, a massive blow sent Prowl and Wreck-Gar flying. They only got a quick look at their attacker, but they all knew who'd just hit.

"Prowl, you little traitor!" came the howl from the blue mech who now stood in their way, his arms spread. "You think you can get away with what you've done?! Like the Pit you will!" He dashed around the group, successfully confusing them. From afar, the war cries of the Autobots were getting louder. A few moments later, the mass of mechs could be seen on the horizon and the dust cloud they were kicking up was hindering the targeting systems of the airborne bots.

At the center of the mass, however, shots were being fired and the army was thrown into turmoil.

Shockwave and his fellow double agents, twenty five in number, had effectively blown their cover, but only to help their fellow Decepticons. Unfortunately, they had only stopped the middle and tail end of the group. Several of the front runners were still heading towards the small group. One mech in particular was rushing ahead.

"Jazz?" Prowl asked himself, as he tried to strike Blurr, but failed.

The white mech charged ahead, but instead of hitting Prowl, he managed to tackle and pin Blurr to the ground. "Jazz, what-?" Prowl asked, as the stunned blue mech groaned beneath the other ninja.

"Get going. Perhaps you were right about joining the Decepticons, but I have some more thinking to do. This spot seems like a good place to think." He brought his foot down on Blurr's left leg, smiling when the mech yelped and a snapping sound was heard. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

"Traitors…All of…you freaks…" Blurr growled, still dazed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Shouldn't you guys get going?" Jazz asked. Prowl smiled gratefully at him as the rest continued towards the Decepticon base.

"You'll…regret this, Jazz…" Blurr snarled.

"Does it look like I care?"

--

"BlackArachnia, hand Sari off to Skywarp so he can fly across the last stretch!" Wreck-Gar yelled, as the purple jet looked over to his friend.

"But I can't leave you, BA. I just can't." Skywarp admitted.

"Don't be macho, you idiot!" The femme snarled, handing Sari off to the mech. "This is about Sari getting home! There will be time for mushy feelings later!"

"Well, in case there isn't time…" Grabbing BlackArachnia by the waist, he pulled her into a kiss. After a few moments, he pulled away, grinning. "Now, I can go." Transforming, he zoomed off, leaving a grinning BlackArachnia on the ground.

As Skywarp zoomed off, he soon realized that he wasn't alone.

"Sunstorm? What the slag are you doing?" He asked impatiently. The yellow jet was flying right behind him.

His tone didn't sound too pleasant. "I'm here to make sure you don't cause anymore trouble."

"What are you talking about? Oh, you mean the kiss, I'll bet. Man, we can fight over this once we get Sari home, alright? Right now, swallow the bitterness and-ACK!" Fire rained down from above and spouted up from below. "What-?"

Grimlock and Snarl were breathing fire straight up, while Swoop dogged them and tried to force them to the ground from above…and into his comrades' flames.

"Slag! Sunstorm, go attack that meddling Dinobot above us while I-!"

"Get all the credit for saving Sari? I DON'T THINK SO!"

"Ugh, put me on the com-link, Skywarp." Sari sighed. Pushing a button, she yelled, "Sunstorm, if we don't get out of this, there won't be anything left for you to send home! How would BlackArachnia look at you then?!"

There was silence on the other side, but the sound of Sunstorm's engine growing fainter, followed by the sounds of screeches and plasma blasts meant that Sunstorm had been reached.

"Nice work, Sari. At least someone knows how to get to that engine block he calls a processor."

--

Megatron flew above a massive battlefield, surveying their progress. Several double agents had been killed, but Shockwave and a few others had managed to escape. Now the no longer held up Autobot forces were charging straight ahead…where they were struck without warning by Lockdown's forces.

Lockdown's forces were actually beating back the Autobots, despite their lesser numbers. Now, many of the Seekers had joined the fray on the ground, confident that they could beat their enemies at hand-to-hand combat.

Megatron, on the other hand, had stayed above, and for good reason, too. From his vantage point, he could see a group of Autobots sneaking around behind the Decepticons, using the rocky terrain to their advantage. However, they didn't appear even remotely interested in taking part in the battle.

It was then Megatron saw this group was being led by Ultra Magnus.

"Starscream!" Megatron yelled through the com-link. "We've got company! Ultra Magnus is leading a group that's going after Sari! They aren't a big group, but it could be enough to take over the base!"

"What?! Slag! We haven't got the forces to defend the base!" Starscream replied. "Seekers, fall back! Get back to the base!"

--

"Hey, Skywarp. Glad to see you made it back safe." Bumblebee said, looking up from the project he was working on. "I'll take Sari from you while you get a few moments of rest."

"Thank you, Bee." Skywarp panted, and handed the girl off to the yellow mech.

"Alright, Sari, it's all set." Bee explained, as the work crews stood around, marveling at their work. "Without your key, the space bridge has enough power to stay on for about ten Earth minutes. Not a lot of time, but it should be enough for you to get back to your own universe."

Mixmaster approached the two. "Megatron said to send the kid back as soon as possible…preferably when she got back to base. Ready to go home, kid?"

"Absolutely! But I'll still miss you guys." She replied quietly.

"We'll miss you too, Sari." Bee began, but there was a sudden roar and terrible crashes filled the air. A wall of flame blasted the door, melting it into a puddle as Grimlock and Snarl marched into the room.

"How the slag did they get in?!" Scrapper yelled. "Bumblebee, get Sari into the portal! NOW!"

As the bots picked up their tools and advanced on the intruders, Bumblebee took Sari over to the control panel. As the kid plucked the key from the slot, a voice said, "Energy source removed. Ten minutes until shut down."

"Alright Sari, get going! Be safe and don't forget us." Bee dashed up to the portal, but not before he was struck down by something behind him.

"Bumblebee!" Sari yelped, and looked up. "Oh no, not you!"

"Yes, me." Ultra Magnus growled. The other Autobots had rounded up the workers and had them in a corner. "Grimlock, thank you for causing a distraction. Now, let's get this human's key back to what's left of Autobot Headquarters."

"Oh, don't be so quick to celebrate, Magus." A voice called. Standing in the melted doorway was Skywarp, looking furious. "I'm still here."

"Skywarp!" Sari said, relieved.

"You? What can you do by yourself?" Ultra Magnus sneered.

"Who says he's alone?" Another voice announced. Megatron appeared behind Skywarp, followed by the other Seekers.

Sunstorm tossed a stunned and battered Swoop towards the other Dinobots. "He put up quite a fight, that one. But he just wasn't good enough to beat me."

"Autobots, get them!" Ultra Magnus yelled.

"Decepticons, attack!" Megatron yowled.

As the Seekers and the Autobots clashed, Skywarp dashed forward, grabbing both Bumblebee and Sari. "Alright, kid, no time for long goodbyes! Goodbye, and good luck!" Skywarp said quickly. He tossed Sari into the portal just as it closed.

All Sari saw as she left the universe was Megatron battling with Ultra Magnus, Bumblebee still out cold, and Skywarp's battered but kind face smiling as she left.

--

"AHH!" She landed with a thump on the cold floor. "Ow…"

"Sari!" The girl turned to see Bumblebee grab and hug her tightly. "We were so worried! When you fell into the space bridge, we didn't know if you'd come back alive! The others wanted to give up, but I kept coming back here every day in case you ever came back! We missed you so much, especially me!"

"I missed you too, Bee." She said. "I would have missed you even more, but I had company on the other side of the portal."

"Like who?" Bee asked curiously.

"You'd never believe me if I told you.

"Try me."

"Well, once we get back to the base, I'll tell all of you guys."

--

Back in the mirror universe, Ultra Magnus lay dead, Megatron's katana sheathed in his spark chamber. The young Decepticon leader had been badly scarred in the battle, but they had won the battle without any casualties. That's all that mattered.

"So, Megatron," Quicksnipe asked. "Is this the end of the war? I mean, you did kill Ultra Magnus."

"No…There will be a replacement. Until that day, we'll need to regroup and strengthen your forces." Megatron replied. "Besides, I've heard rumors of a Prime that's well on his way to the rank of Magnus. Rodimus, I think his name was."

"Well, you won't need to worry about that for a while, sir. You need more rest than the rest of us put together!" Starscream said, grinning. "We'll take care of the clean up detail, YOU get some rest."

"Hey, hey! Guess who's back, back again?" The Decepticons looked up to see Lockdown's army stream into the room, cheering and hollering. Skywarp was pushing through the crowd, looking, searching and calling…but he couldn't be heard over the crowd's yells.

Finally, the last of the soldiers piled in, leaving a very stunned and sad Skywarp in their wake. Trudging to Lockdown, he asked, "Were there any casualties?"

"Of course there were, this was a massive battle!" The mech snorted, walking away.

Starscream went over to his brother. "I'm sorry. I heard what Lockdown said."

"Said about what?" A voice asked. Skywarp looked up to see BlackArachnia standing in the doorway, leading the stretchers holding wounded or dead soldiers.

Skywarp leapt wordlessly towards her and pulled her into a tight embrace. After pulling away, he said, "I though you were gone for good."

"Hah, it'll take more than a few Autobots to take me down." She replied. "I'm just glad to see you're ok."

"Me too."

A little distance away, Wreck-Gar and Ratchet were fixing up the wounded soldiers, when Megatron approached him. "Wreck-Gar, you have shown great courage and potential. Would you care to join the Decepticons? We could use someone of your…unique talents."

"Me? A Decepticon? Well, I'll only do it if Ratchet does it." The junk bot looked over at the older mech.

"Huh. Fine, I'll join your lot, but only because I hated Magnus' guts."

"Then it's settled."

"Hey, Megatron, these here Autobots claim they've seen the light and want to join us." Mixmaster led a small group of beaten-up mechs who looked sheepishly up at the Decepticon leader.

"We'll have to see on that part." Megatron said. "Let them prove they really want to join us. Let them renounce the name of the Autobots."

A loud din from the crowd made Prowl look up. "What-?" He strode over to the group, where a hand grabbed his wrist. "Jazz?"

"Told you I'd think it over. And yes, I think you're right. The Decepticons make a lot more sense now." The other ninja replied, smiling.

--

"So you were transported to a dimension where the Decepticons were the good guys and the Autobots were the bad guys?" Optimus asked. Sari had finished explaining to the mechs about her adventure.

"Wow, there was an evil me? Freaky." Bulkhead said.

"Well, this is officially something that no one can know about. Especially not Megatron. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Everyone chimed in.

--

Meanwhile, on a branch outside, a mechanical hawk perched, listening on the whole conversation.

Master Soundwave would love to hear about this. If not him, then perhaps Megatron would like to know about this.

Turning away, he flew off into the setting sun.

Oh yes, things were about to get interesting.


End file.
